Building a 300 Win Mag on a Win mod 70 action, med-heavy barrel, McMillan HTG stock, going to set it up for long range shooting and for hunting.

I want a scope for long range applications, keeping in mind, I will also hunt with this rifle.

Don't have the jack for a Nightforce. Looking into Leupold and Vortex, but open to opinions. What would you consider your perfect scope for this caliber and this application.

Sightron SIII 3.5-10x44 reasonably priced and a damn good value for what you pay IMHO!!

WR, you have a bit of a "crossover" issue among target, hunting and cost, cost being the worst.
Really A+ scopes, as you know, often cost more than the rifles they are mounted on.

IME my bias would be toward Leupold because of fine optics and the wonderful service.
For years I used a 6.5-20x40 VX III on my mid-heavy 300 H&H. It had gone to TK Lee and had dots installed for 100,200,300 & 400 yds for my favorite load @12X (SFP scope). (I consider 400 yards a long big game shot). No messing about with knobs, just range em and shoot.
Have owned two Vortexs and they were good scopes too, about equal to a Burris.
A fixed power scope is also worth looking at as it follows the "KISS" theory and is more rugged than any variable. When you see the tiny groups the HBR guys shoot with a 6X upper limit, it tells a lot about the need for "many Xs" to shoot well.
As for the "perfect" scope, my current "go to" big game rifle in 300 WinMag carries a Nightforce 2.5-10x32 with the HS illuminated reticle. Only downside is SFP and it is a grand+ $. Up side is that it is sleek, light, bulletproof and kills what you aim it at.

Pls post some pics when you get your project done.


Life Member NRA

bumfarto,

Good first post!

I like Leupold, and that is the way I am leaning. 4x-14x or 6x-20x objective of 40-50mm, not sure yet on that one.

Coyote Killer,

Sightron is an option, but for the same money, I can get Leupold. Do you think Sightron are that much better? I have no practical experience with this scope.

Hi Wendell,
long time-no talk, I keep looking for your next bargoon hunt listing to try and help with your scope fund but haven't seen much lately

That said I have been playing a fair amount with long range stuff lately and although I am far from good at it I have been evaluating my equipment pretty thoroughly and have had the good fortune to acquire examples of most of the typical long range glass. I have a 1000yrd range setup in my backyard so that is as far as I have been playing- no ultra long range stuff for me yet.
Currently in the stable on long range rigs are: leupold (vx3 4.5x14 and varix3 6.5x20) zeiss (conquest 4.5x14) swaro (Z6i 1.7x10) schmidt and bender (4x12) and nightforce ( NXS 5.5x22)

By far my favorite of this bunch is the S&B - the glass is fabulous and the clicks are bang on- the price however takes my breath away...

The conquest has very good glass as well in a much more compact package- the thing that stops me from recommending it is no zero stop however... It looks like the new HD5 does have zerostop but the price is right there with the nightforce.

You don't mention if you are planning to use a BDC type reticle or to twist turrets in your question- if you want to use a reticle I would hands down go with a conquest in whatever power range you are comfortable with one of the BDC reticles.... for the price they will be very tough to beat especially some of the closeout deals on the discontinued models right now.

If you are going to twist turrets I would personally go with the nightforce2.5x10- they are a lot of scope for the money and mine just works period. super rugged-decent glass- repeatable and a nice zerostop (which to me is a necessity)

With that said I currently have a package on the way from doug@ cameraland NY with a leica 3.5x14 with elevation turret and zerostop as well as one of the new steiner tacticals in it. I think the steiner will probably be too heavy for a hunting rig (its going to live on my trg42 .338 lapua) But I have very high hopes for the leica-its a few hundred dollars less then a NXS, lighter, has a zerostop, and if the glass and quality is anything like the rest of the leica products I own it will I think become my go to hunting scope. It may replace the NXS as my recommendation but until I have it in my sweaty palms I cannot say for sure.

It is nice to see you back posting here again and apparently having a good time doing it and I wish you well with whateve scope you end up choosing. Post me another good hunt in the Selous and I will do my best to help you get into that new NXS you are desiring...

Wendell, After having had just about every scope made, I'm stuck on the Leupold 4.5x14x50 LR with the 30mm tube and Illuminated reticle. For true long range, a mil-dot or graduated reticle of some sort might be needed, but they sure screw up the field of view for hunting with all their stadia or dots. A programmed reticle would help that, allowing you to dial in the distance while maintaining a simple crosshair view of the animal/target.

I have used quite a few LR optics at this point.

For years I shot older Leupold Vari X-III 3.5-10x50mmAO scopes for LR but from about 15-25 I thought long range was the 400yds MPBR my rifles could produce. I also used a Kahles with a TDS reticle for a while too. I still use a standard plex Vari X-III on a custom .257Wby because as fast as it is the wind will blow a .257 bullet around a lot more than a high BC 7mm so I shoot a 300m zero on it and won't shoot past 400 with it.

At work I use Leupold Mk4 M5A1 with a Horus H-58 and several other Mk4 with the TMR or Mil-Dot. They are all pretty good scopes but about the same price as Nightforce. When I first started shooting these reticles they looked really busy but after a lot of time behind them they are the fastest thing going.

Since our last trip to Afghanistan a lot of my guys have bought the Vortex Viper PST scopes in 4-16x or 6-24x in both MOA and MIL versions. I have mounted these on their guns I was working on and have shot them a fair amount. I think they are very good glass for the money with accurate adjustments and good reticles. I really want one of the new 2.5-10x32mm they offer bc it addresses all of my complaints about my Nightforce 2.5-10x32mm.

Nightforce tho is truly awesome. Good resolution, accurate adjustments, and bombproof.

notlim,

Yes, a Selous Safari would help me with my scope purchase! Paddy is available in August! (Hint hint).

I found a way to make Nightforce look very affordable. Spend time shopping Schmidt and Bender. All of a sudden all other scopes look cheap.

I would say Leupold, Nightforce and Vortex are all in the running, in that order. However any one of them might wind up the winner.

Thanks for the advise from everyone. It's helpful in choosing.

quote:

Originally posted by Wendell Reich:
notlim,

Yes, a Selous Safari would help me with my scope purchase! Paddy is available in August! (Hint hint).

I found a way to make Nightforce look very affordable. Spend time shopping Schmidt and Bender. All of a sudden all other scopes look cheap.

I would say Leupold, Nightforce and Vortex are all in the running, in that order. However any one of them might wind up the winner.

Thanks for the advise from everyone. It's helpful in choosing.

I use to carry a scoped rifle for a living, dollar for dollar, you will never go wrong with Nightforce! S&B make great scopes Premier and US Optics are also great glass. I would not put Leup, or Vortex in the same class and the above mentioned scopes. If you want a "not to worry about it" scope. buy once and cry once.

Hi Wendell,
I see a trend developing here... spend once-cry once!

quote:

Originally posted by notlim:
Hi Wendell,
I see a trend developing here... spend once-cry once!

Good advice. I will look closer at Nightforce.

Wendell I have several night force scopes and they are great but for the money the vortex PST is really good. I have several and use one on 300 win and it tracks perfect
Y. I go from 100 yard to 1000 and back it shoots right where it did and they are a little lighter. Get good bases and mounts call ken Farrell his stuff is not cheap but good

Three years ago it was a toss up between Night Force and Leupold.... chose the Night Force and the MLR reticle after looking through many different scopes as you can see through the dots and bars. If I was to do it again I would look hard at the Harris reticle.
Good luck with your choices

Don't want to steal Wendell's thread but it seems to me that the type of shooting needs to be defined. I assume that by hunting we mean that the range will not always be known. So, do we have time to use a rangefinder or must we estimate the range and then shoot. If the former, then presumably we can have a single set of crosshairs (or other sighting device) and use the scope adjustment turrets to adjust for the range. If we must estimate and then shoot, due to lack of time, then that implies either a "hold over" method, or other sighting points for ranges other than the one that the crosshairs are set for. Lengthy, but I hope this makes sense. If it does, then the decision about reticule should be made first IMHO. Comments? Perhaps this has already been decided? IMHO, the primary crosshairs are far more accurate to shoot than other shorter hashmarks or whatever. Similar comments about MOA vs. MR. Do you require more precise shooting that the 3.6" or whatever clicks come with the MR scopes or do you require very quick changes between widely disparate distances?
Peter.

I use a Vortex Viper 6.5-20 on my 300 Weatherby and absolutely love it! The first time I dialed a shot, it was at milk jugs at 600 yards. I was able to hit 2 of 3 with the only miss being a misscalculation on my part. Since then I've put a Viper HS LR on my 375 Ruger and will now use that for some of my long range hunting.